> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Fwd: A Worthwhile Petition > Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 12:13:00 EST > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > In a message dated 11/20/99 6:25:26 PM Central Standard Time, KERIF writes: > > << The government of Afghanistan is waging a war upon women. Since the > Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear burqua and have been > beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire, even if this > means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes. One woman > was beaten to DEATH by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally > exposing her arm while she was driving. Another was stoned to death > for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative. > > Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public without a male > relative; professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, > lawyers, > artists and writers have been forced from their jobs and stuffed into > their homes, so that depression is becoming so widespread that it has > reached emergency levels. There no way in such an extreme Islamic society > to know the suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are estimating > that the suicide rate among women, who cannot find proper medication and > treatment for severe depression and would rather take their lives than live > in such conditions, has increased significantly. > > Homes where a woman is present must have their windows painted so that she > can never be seen by outsiders. They must wear silent shoes so that they > are never heard. Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest > misbehavior. Because they cannot work, those without male relatives or > husbands are either > starving to death or begging on the street, even if they hold Ph.D.'s. > > There are almost no medical facilities available for women, and relief > workers, in protest, have mostly left the country, taking medicine and > psychologists and other things necessary to treat the skyrocketing level of > depression among women. At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter > found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless on top of beds, > wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly > wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners, > perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear. One doctor is > considering, when what little medication that is left finally runs out, > leaving these women in front of the president's residence as a form of > peaceful protest. > It is at the point where the term 'human rights violations' has become an > understatement. Husbands have the power of life and death over their > women relatives, especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as much > right to stone or beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of > flesh or offending them in the slightest way. Women enjoyed relative > freedom, to work, dress generally as they wanted, and drive and appear in > public > alone until only 1996. The rapidity of this transition is the main reason > for the depression and suicide; women who were once educators or doctors > or simply used to basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and > treated as subhuman in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam. It is > not their tradition or 'culture,' but is alien to them, and it is extreme > even for those cultures where fundamentalism is the rule. Everyone has a > right to a tolerable human existence, even if they are women in a Muslim > country. If we can threaten military force in Kosovo in the name of > human rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can > certainly express peaceful outrage at the oppression, murder and > injustice committed against women by the Taliban. > > STATEMENT: In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of > women in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves support and > action by the United Nations and that the current situation overseas will > not be tolerated. Women's Rights is not a small issue anywhere and it is > UNACCEPTABLE for women in 1999 to be treated as subhuman and so much > as property. Equality and human decency is a RIGHT not a freedom, > whether one lives in Afghanistan or elsewhere. > > >1) Suzanne Dathe, Grenoble, France > >2) Laurence COMPARAT, Grenoble, France > >3) Philippe MOTTE, Grenoble, France > >4) Jok FERRAND, Mont St Martin, France > >5) Emmanuelle PIGNOL, St Martin d'Heres, FRANCE > >6) Marie GAUTHIER, Grenoble, FRANCE > >7) Laurent VESCALO, Grenoble,FRANCE > >8) Mathieu MOY, St Egreve, FRANCE > >9) Bernard BLANCHET, Mont St Martin, FRANCE > >10) Tassadite FAVRIE, Grenoble, FRANCE > >11) Loic GODARD, St Ismier, FRANCE > >12) Benedicte PASCAL, Grenoble, FRANCE > >13) Khedaidja BENATIA, Grenoble, FRANCE > >14) Marie-Therese LLORET, Grenoble,FRANCE > >15) Benoit THEAU, Poitiers, FRANCE > >16) Bruno CONSTANTIN, Poitiers, FRANCE > >17) Christian COGNARD, Poitiers, FRANCE > >18) Robert GARDETTE, Paris, FRANCE > >19) Claude CHEVILLARD, Montpellier, FRANCE > >20) gilles FREISS, Montpellier, FRANCE > >21) Patrick AUGEREAU, Montpellier, FRANCE. > >22) Jean IMBERT, Marseille, FRANCE > >23) Jean-Claude MURAT, Toulouse, France > >24) Anna BASSOLS, Barcelona, Spain > >25) Mireia DUNACH, Barcelona, Spain > >26) Michel VILLAZ, Grenoble, France > >27) Pages Frederique, Dijon, France > >28) Rodolphe FISCHMEISTER, Chatenay-Malabry,France > >29) Francois BOUTEAU, Paris, France > >30) Patrick PETER, Paris, France > >31) Lorenza RADICI, Paris, France > >32) Monika Siegenthaler, Bern, Switzerland > >33) Mark Philp, Glasgow, Scotland > >34) Tomas Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden > >35) Jonas Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden > >36) Karin Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden > >37) Ake Ljung, Stockholm, Sweden > >38) Carina Sedlmayer, Stockholm, Sweden > >39) Rebecca Uddman, Stockholm, Sweden > >40) Lena Skog, Stockholm, Sweden > >41) Micael Folke, Stockholm, Sweden > >42) Britt-Marie Folke, Stockholm, Sweden > >43) Birgitta Schuberth, Stockholm, Sweden > >44) Lena Dahl, Stockholm, Sweden > >45) Ebba Karlsson, Stockholm, Sweden > >46) Jessica Carlsson, Vaxjo, Sweden > >47) Sara Blomquist, Vaxjo, Sweden > >48) Magdalena Fosseus, Vaxjo, Sweden > >49) Charlotta Langner, Goteborg, Sweden > >50) Andrea Egedal, Goteborg, Sweden > >51) Lena Persson, Stockholm, Sweden > >52) Magnus Linder, Umea ,Sweden > >53) Petra Olofsson, Umea, Sweden > >54) Caroline Evenbom, Vaxjo, Sweden > >55) Asa Pettersson, Grimsas, Sweden > >56) Jessica Bjork, Grimsas, Sweden > >57) Linda Ahlbom Goteborg, Sweden > >58) Jenny Forsman, Boras, Sweden > >59) Nina Gunnarson, Kinna, Sweden > >60) Andrew Harrison, New Zealand > >61) Bryre Murphy, New Zealand > >62) Claire Lugton, New Zealand > >63) Sarah Thornton, New Zealand > >64) Rachel Eade, New Zealand > >65) Magnus Hjert, London, UK > >67) Madeleine Stamvik, Hurley, UK > >68) Susanne Nowlan, Vermont, USA > >69) Lotta Svenby, Malmoe, Sweden > >70) Adina Giselsson, Malmoe, Sweden > >71) Anders Kullman, Stockholm, Sweden > >72) Rebecka Swane, Stockholm,Sweden > >73) Jens Venge, Stockholm, Sweden > >74) Catharina Ekdahl, Stockholm, Sweden > >75) Nina Fylkegard, Stockholm, Sweden > >76) Therese Stedman, Malmoe, Sweden > >77) Jannica Lund, Stockholm, Sweden > >78) Douglas Bratt > >79) Mats Lofstrom, Stockholm, Sweden > >80) Li Lindstrom, Sweden > >81) Ursula Mueller, Sweden > >82) Marianne Komstadius, Stockholm, Sweden > >83) Peter Thyselius, Stockholm, Sweden > >84) Gonzalo Oviedo, Quito, Ecuador > >85) Amalia Romeo, Gland, Switzerland > >86) Margarita Restrepo, Gland, Switzerland > >87) Eliane Ruster, Crans p.C., Switzerland > >88) Jennifer Bischoff-Elder, Hong Kong > >89) Azita Lashgari, Beirut, Lebanon > >90) Khashayar Ostovany, New York, USA > >91) Lisa L Miller, Reno NV > >92) Danielle Avazian, Los Angeles, CA > >93) Sara Risher, Los Angeles, Ca. > >94) Melanie London, New York, NY > >95) Susan Brownstein , Los Angeles, CA > >96) Steven Raspa, San Francisco, CA > >97) Margot Duane, Ross, CA > >98) Natasha Darnall, Los Angeles, CA > >99) Candace Brower, Evanston, IL > >100) James Kjelland, Evanston, IL > >101) Michael Jampole, Beach Park, IL, USA > >102) Diane Willis, Wilmette, IL, USA > >103) Sharri Russell, Roanoke, VA, USA > >104) Faye Cooley, Roanoke, VA, USA > >105) Natalie Edwards, Charlottesville VA USA > >106) Cyndy Williams, Charlottesville, VA USA > >107) Donna Hall, Lynchburg, Va USA > >108) Robin Hinkle, Lynchburg, VA USA > >109) George Vass Venice, FL USA > >110) Martha Ferris, Moncks Corner, SC USA > >111) Teresa Smith, Charleston, SC, USA > >112) Terry Longo, Orlando, FL, USA > >113) Charlotte Downs, Orlando, FL, USA > >114) Laura M. Connaughton, Orlando, FL USA > >115) Ronit Doran, Tel Aviv, Israel > >116) Eran Hazoum, Tel Aviv, Israel > >117) Ze'ev Ben-Tsvi, Givaatim, Israel > >118) Esther Spanjer, Netherlands > >119) Pascal Moser, Bern, Switzerland > >120) Lucien Moser, Bern, Switzerland > >121) Josepha Oostvogels, Bern, Switzerland > >123) Sierd de Bruin, Bern, Switzerland Germany > >124) Tina Eslick, Rossdorf, Germany > >125) Daniela Bergsch, Cologne, Germany > >126) Brigitte Molsich, Pulheim, Germany > >127) Beate Molsich, Bochum, Germany > >128) Michel Lallement, France > >129) Patrice Cohen, Paris, France > >130) Marie-Christine MONNIER, Nantes, France > >131) Bernard REYNAUD, Saint-Pierre, La Reunion , France > >132) Gerard Febvay, Lyon, France > >133) Herve Sinoquet, Clermont-Ferrand, France > >134) Marc Bonhomme, Clermont Ferrand, France > >135) Herve Quiquampoix, Montpellier, France > >136) Siobhan Staunton, Montpellier, France > >137) Alessandro Piccolo, Napoli, Italy > >138) Daniela Businelli, Perugia, Italy > >139) Francesco Stella, Arezzo, Italy > >140) Patrizia Michelini, Firenze, Italy > >141) Rosaria Lo Russo, Firenze, Italy > >142) Thomas Allison Kirk, Firenze, Italy > >143) Raul Montanari, Milano, Italy > >144) Ornella Ziroldo, Milano, Italy > >145) Pietro De Marchi, Switzerland > >146) Cecilia Serra, Switzerland > >147) Eva Roos, Switzerland > >148) Delphine Guillelmon, Savagnier, Switzerland > >149) Thierry Zweifel, Bruxelles, Belgium > >150) Celine & Olivier Michaud, Lahore, Pakistan > >151) David and Lynn Gilroy, Langley, Canada > >152) Marie-Jeanne Cornu, Switzerland > >153) Andrea Seimetz, Germany > >154) Tricia Zeller, Aalen, Germany > >155) Michael Zeller, Germany > >156) Denise Lehman, Ferndale, Michigan, USA > >157) Linda K. Wells, Harrison Township, Michigan, USA > >158) Keith A. Wells, Phoenix, Arizona, USA > >159) Tim Davis, Phoenix, Arizona, USA > >160) Tara Welch, Paoli, Pennsylvania, USA > >161) Shelby Helm, Coatesville, Pennsylvania, USA > 162) Heather Bretz, Spencer, NY 14850 > 163) George Holets > 164) Jon Griffin, Buffalo, NY, USA > 165) Sherri E, McArdle, Rochester, NY, USA > 166) Jim Ramerman, Rochester, NY, USA > 167) Kate Sonnick, Rochester, NY, USA > 168) Alexandra Guhde, Rochester, NY, USA > 169) Kristina Campbell, Dayton, OH, USA > 170) Keri Farley, Dayton, OH, USA > 180) Becky Young, St. Louis, MO, USA 181) Kris Heffner, St. Louis MO USA 182) Peat Wollaeger, Chicago, IL., USA 183)Jennifer Buxton, Chicago IL, USA 184) Marc Buxton,Chicago,IL,USA 185) Misa Challingsworth, Chicago, IL, USA > PLEASE COPY this email on to a new message, sign the bottom and > forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive this list > with > more than 200 names on it, please e-mail a copy of it to : > [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Send after every > 200 names.) Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do > not kill the petition. Thank you. It is best to copy rather than forward >
